The present invention relates to a stethoscopy system, particularly to a real-time multitask electronic stethoscopy system including one or more stethoscopes and a microcomputer for processing of the signal picked up by the stethoscopes so that signals from several stethoscopes may be compared for diagnostic purposes.
Generally, a patient's or machine's health condition can be determined through the detection of the frequency of a sound and the amplitude and the periodic features of a fluid (such a blood, air, water . . . ) flow or solid movement (linear, rotation, or vibration) in the patient's body (or machine) by experience and inference, whereby the cause, place and the presence of a normal or abnormal condition can be used for reference in therapy or repair. This method is called stethoscopy, the common manner of diagnosis used by medical man and maintenance engineer alike. Its principle is not hard to understand, but its practicality mainly depends upon experiences of the user. Therefore, there are numerous defects with prior art stethoscopy techniques, such as:
(1) Diagnosis will be difficult if the user has a hearing defect or if the signal from the stethoscope is too small.
(2) Accuracy of diagnosis is doubtful, for there is no reference signal for comparison while listening; instead, comparison is made by the user subjectively.
(3) Accuracy of diagnosis is doubtful if the diagnosis is determined by an unexperienced user who does not have enough patterns of symptoms in his mind for comparison purposes.
(4) Using a stethoscope requires repeated practices and instructions by an experienced user, and the practices and instructions may cause in convenience to patients.
(5) A stethoscope is a professional tool, and the public, especially those who live in a place where transportation is not convenient and medical facilities are not sufficient, cannot use one for self-diagnosis.
(6) Even an experienced medical man cannot make a correct diagnosis for a symptom he has never experienced or a symptom with a very slight change of sound pattern. For example, a minor irregular hearbeat symptom is rather difficult to be detected even by an experienced doctor with a stethoscope.
(7) The inner or outer mechanical troubles may be detected using a stethoscope; however, an experienced stethoscopic technician is very difficult to obtain, if not impossible.
The prior art inventions or improvements of the stethoscope merely pertain to the technology of picking up the sound signal and converting the sound signal. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,528,690, for example, a simple combination of an electronic means and a sound-guiding tube is provided. Another U.S. Pat. No. 4,528,689 relates to a means, which can have a sound signal, via a microprocessor, elongated in time (i.e., converted it into a slower form) so as to facilitate the diagnosis operation. Other U.S. Patents such as U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,562,428; 3,846,585; 4,220,160 etc. utilize a sound/electric signal conversion means to have the sound signal processed through a filter(s), an amplifier(s) and a recorder, etc; however, the diagnosis results are still mainly dependent upon the experience and skills of the user. Thus, the aforesaid problems have not been solved yet.